Is it a tablet that makes phone calls? Or the largest, most ridiculous handset ever made?

24 February 2013/13:13GMT

The long-rumoured and occasionally leaked Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 has officially been revealed by Samsung as Mobile World Congress gets ready to kick off this week.

The Galaxy Note 8.0 packs an 8in 1280x800 TFT which serves up a rather low 189ppi. Still, it still bests the iPad Mini's pixel count, which Sammy appears to have singled out as the Note 8.0's main competitor.

Despite its tablet design, the Galaxy Note 8.0 will (in the UK at least) be able to make phone calls thanks to a micro SIM slot. We'd prefer to think of it as a tablet with phone smarts built in, rather than a phone that'll make you look like a Hobbit when held up to your face.

Still, from the photos we've seen, the Note 8.0 can be held comfortably in one hand while the other operates the newly improved S Pen. The same S Pen tricks found in the Galaxy Note 2 like Air View return, but with the bonus of being able to use the capacitive buttons with it too - no more finger-to-pen swapping.

Diving further into the spec sheet reveals a 1.6Ghz quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM, while 16/32GB of on-board memory can be beefed up with a 64GB micro SD. Road warriors will be happy to see a substantial 4,600mAh battery packed within the Note 8.0's frame, although it is a non-removeable affair.

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Imaging (which is never high on the list of tablet requirements) is taken care of by a rear-facing 5MP snapper and front-facing 2MP cam.

And there you have it. The biggest smartphone in the world, or an iPad Mini rival that just happens to make calls. Either way, we're sure that a true successor to the Galaxy Note 2 is on the way. It just might end up being a Galaxy S4 with a 5in screen instead....

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